Creditors take control of Greece
by Alan Thornett
Socialist Resistance, Britain, July 15
<http://socialistresistance.org/7601/creditors-take-control-of-greece>
. . .
There are still major obstacles to the final ratification of this
deal, of course. First it has to go to the Greek Parliament very
shortly where there is no guarantee of adoption. It is highly
contentious amongst Syriza MPs and will in any case have to rely on
the votes of opposition parties.
It also faces huge obstacles in the form of national parliament votes
in Germany, Estonia, and Slovakia, which could all baulk at the extra
€86bn offered to Greece in loans under the terms of the bailout.
Finally of course it has to be said that if it is adopted it will have
no more chance of success than the previous two bailout—probably less.
These are all the same policies that had failed over the past five
years and will inevitably fail again. As Larry Elliot says in the
Guardian: “Greece is in a hole the rest of the eurozone will hand it a
spade and tell it to keep digging”.
The task for the left is to build opposition to the deal inside and
outside Greece, to build on the 62% of the vote won in the referendum,
much of its support coming from young people, and to challenge the
implementation of the austerity package at every level. There has been
a strike called for Wednesday, when the parliament considers the deal.
The movement must be built both politically, inside and beyond Syriza,
and within the trade union and working class movement, especially
among the Greek youth whose future is under so much threat.
Across the whole of Europe and beyond, we must continue to support for
those affected by the austerity measures, stepping up our practical
solidarity with the people of Greece while building a political and
solidarity movement to challenge the EU elites and resist their
vicious attacks on the working class in Greece and across Europe.
Greek unions call strike to beat new austerity deal
by Panos Garganas in Athens
Socialist Worker, Britain, July 14
<http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art/40930/Greek+unions+call+strike+to+beat+a+new+austerity+deal>
Workers had an immediate response to the Greek government’s surrender
to its creditors—meeting within hours to call a public sector mass
strike.
They were set to strike on Wednesday of this week.
That’s when parliament begins voting through the laws demanded by the
European Union, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund.
Workers plan a mass rally in front of the Greek parliament in Syntagma Square.
A meeting of around 200 public sector workers on Monday of this week,
called by the Adedy union federation, decided on the strike.
The rank and file was there as well as the leaders—and in a militant mood.
This isn’t just a U-turn from the government.
People voted no to an austerity agreement in the referendum—and the
government agreed another that was even worse (see page 4).
Working class families face an immediate loss of income from wages and
pensions, and the threat of job losses.
And workers who were rehired or promised their jobs back after being
made redundant by the previous government face being sacked again.
They include the workers at ERT, the state broadcaster, who were
reinstated last month after two years under workers’ control.
Their union was the first to call for the general strike, at a meeting
of the Coordination Against Redundancies campaign on Friday of last
week.
They are not part of Adedy, but they will join the rally on the day.
The Athens Metro workers’ union voted to join the strike. Other unions
are under pressure to come out alongside what is set to be over
600,000 public and private sector workers.
The ports are already being privatised, and the agreement says the
state electricity company is to be chopped up and sold off too.
Workers there want to fight and were making their decision as
Socialist Worker went to press.
Socialists in the unions are calling for another 48-hour strike next
week, when a second round of legislation is due to be passed.
Strikes have stopped cuts and closures in a number of places. They
brought the previous government down, bringing the left to office.
Striking now can protect jobs and wages—and go beyond the compromising
left that’s in government to build a stronger, anti-capitalist left.
People are angry, but there’s a question of who will give a lead. At
first there was panic. Now the strikes and demonstrations are making
opposition concrete.
They are the way to make sure the No vote will be vindicated and the
deal will not pass.
Athens worker says unions will step up fight against rotten deal with Europe
Socialist Worker, Britain, July 14
<http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art/40932/Mass+strike+in+Greece%E2%80%94workers+resist+EU+blackmail>
Furious workers across Greece were preparing to walk out against a
crippling new austerity package imposed by Europe’s rulers as
Socialist Worker went to press.
Christos Arghyris, a union rep at Athens’ large Gennimatas hospital,
spoke to Socialist Worker about the situation.
“We used our votes as a weapon against austerity,” he said. “Now we’re
going to use the weapon of strikes.
“We’ve called a general strike across the public sector on Wednesday
of this week, with a mass demonstration against all the new austerity
measures.
“It was an easy decision. Workers are responding to the new agreement
the same way they responded in the week of the referendum. They are
just as angry as they were when they voted no.
“Then they were angry at the blackmail from the European Union, the
European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
“Now they are angry at prime minister Alexis Tsipras for signing a
deal with them—Greece’s third ‘memorandum’ of austerity.
“The working class in Greece is not stepping back. And that struggle
will continue, with more general strikes on every day parliament votes
on the austerity measures.
“Even members of Tsipras’ left wing party Syriza are saying that they
said no and that they’ll continue to say no.
“They’re very angry as neither the EU leaders nor Tsipras took any
notice of that no.
“So now they want to say no with strikes.”
________________________________
Time to show your solidarity and support the struggle
Ordinary people in Britain and across the globe have taken to the
streets to show solidarity with people fighting austerity in Greece.
Here are some things you can do to show your support:
Send a message of support to strikers to adedy at adedy.gr from your
union branch, campaign group or as an individual. This can help lay
the basis for twinning with workplaces in the future
Use the online petition to raise awareness and to take a collection
for Greek workers—download at <bit.ly/1RwiRjA>
Join local demonstrations in support of the struggle in Greece. For
more details go to <greecesolidarity.org>
See if you can get a Skype link with a Greek striker if you have a
union meeting coming up. Contact the SWP for contacts on 020 7819 1170
Greece: the fight goes on, and we can all support it
rs21, Britain, July 14
<http://rs21.org.uk/2015/07/14/greece-the-fight-goes-on-and-we-can-all-support-it>
. . .
There seems little doubt that Syriza now faces political crisis and
possible collapse. This is not, however, the end of the story, because
the story is not just about parliament and the Syriza leadership.
Neoliberal leaders rely not only on class power – their control of
states, corporations, banks and so on – but on ideology, on convincing
people that, as Thatcher once put it, “there is no alternative”. The
resounding No vote makes it clear that millions of Greek people – many
of them workers, with other social forces too – reject that idea.
Those millions will not simply change their minds or sink into apathy
as they see Greek society destroyed. And so the anti-austerity
movement in Greece isn’t over, but the leadership of it must now move
from parliament to the streets and to workplaces, involving members of
Syriza, Antarsya and other organisations. The first signs of that have
already appeared with the call for a one-day general strike on
Wednesday 15 April by ADEDY, the public sector union federation.
This means that all of us can take some action in our workplaces,
colleges or neighbourhoods to support the struggle in Greece. For
example:
See the Greece Solidarity Campaign (also on Facebook) for actions in
support of Greece.
Join the protest on Wednesday 15 July at the German Embassy in London
There is a crisis in the Greek medical system – do a solidarity
collection for medical aid at work, in your college or your
neighbourhood (see the Greece Medical Solidarity Fund and Medical Aid
for Greece on the Greece Solidarity Campaign website).
Get your union branch to twin with a union branch in Greece
Greece: a humiliating capitulation which will not work
by Jorge Martin
In Defense of Marxism (IMT), July 13
<http://www.marxist.com/greece-a-humiliating-capitulation-which-will-not-work.htm>
. . .
The humiliating capitulation of the government that the masses trusted
to put an end to austerity will have a profound effect. On Friday, the
latest government proposals were met with disbelief. That is quickly
turning into rage and anger.
A general strike has already been called for Wednesday, July 15, by
the public sector workers’ federation ADEDY. Significantly,
Syriza-aligned trade unionists, alongside others, played a key role in
the vote at the union’s executive. Demonstrations have been called on
the same day to oppose the new Memorandum.
It is one thing to approve the measures in Parliament, but it will be
difficult to actually get them implemented. The workers at the
electricity company, at the port of Piraeus, the pensioners, the youth
who voted OXI massively… are not going to accept this with their arms
folded. The scene is set for major class battles. The European ruling
class and its Greek counterparts may be counting on a huge majority in
parliament, but the balance of forces in society is massively tilted
against them. This will not be resolved through parliamentary
procedure, but with struggle.
. . .